Melisande Jordan
Melisande Jordan is the late mother of fraternal twins Rashel Jordan and Raksha Keller, as well as the wife of an unnamed shapeshifter. Her death at the hands of Hunter Redfern was responsible for Rashel becoming one of the most feared vampire hunters in the Night World. Early life Though much of Melisande's history remains largely unknown, at some point she met and fell in love with a shapeshifter and together, the two had twin daughters: Rashel and Keller. It is presumed that Melisande found out about the Night World before her husband left with Keller, trying to get his shifting under control and taking their shapeshifter daughter with him (whom he eventually abandoned before Keller was found by Circle Daybreak). Melisande was left to raise Rashel on her own. Given Rashel's brief mention of her father, Melisande chose to tell her that her husband was a Marine who died when Rashel was young. It is unclear why she would lie to her daughter or why she didn't tell her she had a twin, though one possible explanation was that Melisande felt her daughter would be too young to understand and that it would be easier for her to believe her father was dead. The Chosen On Rashel's fifth birthday, Melisande took her and Rashel's friend Timmy to a carnival. However, the children were attacked by the vampire Hunter Redfern; Timmy was lured out to him through mind control and Rashel found the vampire patriarch feeding on her friend. She screamed for Melisande's help, but it was no use: Hunter Redfern simply used his mind control on Melisande before swiftly breaking her neck. Rashel managed to get away from him unharmed, though the sudden death of her mother emotionally impacted her, and served as the catalyst for her becoming a hunter. Thicker Than Water Melisande is mentioned in this story, when it is revealed that Rashel and Raksha Keller are twins and thus have the same mother. Keller had always believed that her mother was the one who abandoned her, but due to Rashel's account of Melisande, they deduce it was actually Rashel and Keller's father who abandoned Keller. The twins also speculate that Melisande and their father could've been soulmates, though there is no way of knowing for certain. Personality As Melisande only made a brief appearance at the beginning of The Chosen, not much is known about her personality. From what can be gathered by Rashel's memories, Melisande was a loving mother and had a close relationship with her daughter before her untimely death. Physical Appearance Melisande was said to have had "dark" hair, probably black, like her daughters. Etymology *'Melisande' is a name of Old French and Old German origin, meaning "animal strength". It is a variant of the Greek name "Melissa", meaning "honey" or "bee". *'Jordan' is of Hebrew origins, meaning "descend" or "flow down". Trivia *Melisande's knowledge of the Night World may have been the actual reason why Hunter Redfern was after her family; humans who know about the Night World are sentenced to death. *It is implied in Thicker Than Water that she and her husband may have been soulmates. This would make them one of the earliest known soulmate pairings, and among those who discovered their soulmates prior to the series. *It is unknown if "Jordan" was Melisande's maiden name, or if she took her husband's surname when they married. Appearances * The Chosen * ''Witchlight ''(in-directly mentioned) Short Stories * ''Thicker Than Water ''(mentioned) Category:Characters Category:The Chosen characters Category:Females Category:Humans Category:Deceased